He was one of the most sought after players last year and come this fall, he’ll be a Duck. Jamil Wilson’s letter arrived at the Duck offices Wednesday morning and even though none of us saw it come across, you know the Duck coaches were smiling. One of them was Assistant Coach Kenny Payne who has spent who knows how many hours on planes, in hotels and looking at film of players to find a few each year who can be what he says they’re looking for, ‘A good fit.’ Someone who is a good student as well as being a good basketball player who’s willing to do whatever it takes to help the team. Payne believes they’ve found that in Wilson.

We all saw it come down to Michigan State, Texas and the Ducks and then Wilson, true to his word, made his choice known on his late mother’s birthday. Then despite all the rumors swirling around Coach Kent, he stayed true to his word again and he’ll play in Eugene this fall.

Coach Payne talked a little about what he thinks he’ll bring to the Ducks. “We’re really excited to have him coming into our program. We’re excited about all of the kids in this class though. People don’t realize how tough the competition is for quality players. He is probably one of the first kids since Malik and Bryce to come into this program as a big time wing prospect with this many skills. We want him to play with freedom and not with fear. He’s not a guy who’s going to go out and look to score 40 points. His mannerism isn’t to try to score on his own every time down the court. He’s a 15, 10, 10 guy who tries to get scores, blocked shots, assists, and rebounds. He fills up the stat sheet because he’ unselfish, and we need that type of player. He’ll make plays for others along with himself, like a Grant Hill type player. You don’t really notice it until you look at the film and the numbers because he gets his within the flow of the game."